Three College Human Ecology faculty and one staff member have won State University of New York (SUNY) Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence during the 2018-2019 academic year. The statewide award recognizes faculty and staff at SUNY colleges who have consistently demonstrated professional achievements that sustain intellectual vibrancy, advance the boundaries of knowledge, provide the highest quality of instruction, and serve the public good.

This year’s winners from Human Ecology are Francoise Vermeylen, Director, Cornell Statistical Consulting Unit (CSCU) based in the College, Human Development Associate Professor Eve De Rosa, Fiber Science and Apparel Design Assistant Professor Denise Green, and Division of Nutritional Science Associate Professor Saurabh Mehta.

Since its inception in 2006, Vermeylen has led the Human Ecology based CSCU, a professional service group that helps scholars across the University optimally employ statistical methods in their research. The unit provides statistical expertise through consulting services, instruction, workshops, training, instructional materials and contract services.

“She is a dedicated leader, innovator, colleague and steward of the institution,” Dunifon said of the Professional Service Award winner. “Through her leadership the unit has increased annual consulting hours from 1,409 in 2006 to 3,356 in 2018, a 239% increase.”

Eve De Rosa, who was awarded in the category of Faculty Service, is exemplified by her contributions as the Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) of the Department of Human Development and Director of the Honors program in the Department of Human Development.

“De Rosa has been fully dedicated to this leadership role and handled every aspect of the job with care, compassion, and professionalism,” Dunifon said.  “Her vision of service extends well beyond the basic tasks of the positions she has held, to creative thinking about program improvement and the ability to implement needed changes.”

Denise Green, who was honored with the Teaching award, is said to successfully cultivate a sense of intellectual community among students, faculty, and collaborators. As a mentor, she checks on progress, individual well-being, and celebrates triumphs, and is known as an unrelenting advocate for her students and her subject matter.

“Professor Green is dedicated to making each of her class periods meaningful, educational, engaging, and challenging,” Dunifon said. “She is a committed, energetic, and supportive educator, promoting excellence by setting an example through her own scholarship and achievements and by providing continual support to the students.”

Saurabh Mehta, awarded for Scholarship and Creative Activities, focuses his work as a physician and epidemiologist with expertise in infectious disease, nutrition, maternal and child health, and diagnostics, centering on the interplay between nutrition and infection, and his interdisciplinary approach includes the development of field-friendly methods to assess both nutrition and infection.

“Dr. Mehta’s cutting-edge program leverages modern technological approaches leading to research that is elucidating how nutritional status can be modified to improve outcomes for mothers during pregnancy and for their infants in the period of early childhood,” Dunifon said. “Currently, he is the Principal Investigator on two large randomized trials to determine the effect of delivering micronutrients through biofortified crops on nutrition and immune function in infants in India.”